Father of German reunification Helmut Kohl dies at 87

June 16, Berlin: Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who oversaw the reunification of East and West Germany during his time in office, has passed away.

According to local media reports, he died at his house in Ludwigshafen, in western Germany Friday morning. "We mourn," Kohl's Christian Democratic Union party (CDU) tweeted with a picture of the former chancellor.

The Politician who had been in office from 1982 until 1998,was initially chancellor of West Germany before later becoming the first leader of the unified state. After the fall of the Berlin wall, along with the French President Francois Mitterrand, he introduced the euro.

The centre-right Christian Democrat leader was the longest-serving German chancellor of the 20th Century.